In his address, Professor Van-Tam will explain the major discoveries about influenza in humans, using historical examples drawn from the great pandemic of 1918, as well as from more recent pandemics and winter seasonal epidemics. Although a highly scientific and technical subject, Prof Van-Tam unwraps the issue in a way that is highly accessible to the layman.

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam MBE, BMedSci, BM BS, DM, FFPH, FRCPath, Hon FFPM, CBiol, CSci, FRSPH, FSB graduated in Medicine from the University of Nottingham in 1987, trained in Public Health Medicine from 1991, and became a Senior Lecturer at the University of Nottingham in 1997, before serving with the pharmaceutical and vaccines industries from 2000. He moved to the UK Health Protection Agency in 2004, where he was Head of the Pandemic Influenza Office, before returning to Nottingham in late 2007 as Professor of Health Protection. His special interest in influenza spans 25 years and focuses on: epidemiology; transmission; vaccinology; and pandemic preparedness. He is co-Editor and chapter author of the textbook: Pandemic Influenza, which is now in its second edition. He has been a consultant to the World Health Organization on influenza since 2004. He sat on the UK Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) during the 2009-10 pandemic crisis. His unit is an official WHO Collaborating Centre for pandemic influenza and research; and a UK Faculty of Public Health ‘national treasure’ training location for influenza research. He is Chair of UK NERVTAG (New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threat Advisory Group). In 2017 Jonathan was appointed the role of Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England.